2022年10月27日 VOA慢速英语： 科罗拉多州可能成为美国第一个重复利用水资源的州

 

Colorado's water quality agency recently gave early approval to rules about direct potable reuse. It is a process of treating sewage and sending it directly for use without first putting it in a large water body.
科罗拉多州的水质机构最近提前批准了有关直接饮用水再利用的规定。这是一个处理污水并直接将其送去使用的过程，而无需先将其放入大型水体中。
 
Should the move be approved in a final vote in November, the western state would become the first in the United States to adopt direct potable reuse rules, state and federal officials say.
州和联邦官员表示，如果这一举措在 11 月的最终投票中获得批准，西部州将成为美国第一个采用直接饮用水再利用规则的州。
 
Kevin Reidy of the Colorado Water Conservation Board said that as Colorado's population increases, drinking water reuse is an important way to deal with reduced water supplies.
科罗拉多州水资源保护委员会的 Kevin Reidy 表示，随着科罗拉多州人口的增加，饮用水回用是应对供水减少的重要途径。
 
The water reuse treatment process usually involves disinfecting wastewater with ozone gas or ultraviolet light to remove viruses and bacteria. Then the water is put through barriers with very small openings, or pores, that remove solids and dangerous materials known as contaminants.
中水回用处理过程通常涉及用臭氧气体或紫外线对废水进行消毒，以去除病毒和细菌。然后将水通过具有非常小的开口或孔隙的屏障，以去除固体和称为污染物的危险物质。
 
The process is gaining interest as communities deal with long periods without enough rain. While many U.S. states do not directly forbid this kind of water reuse, statewide rules could bring quicker adoption, said Reidy.
随着社区长时间没有足够的降雨，这个过程正在引起人们的兴趣。Reidy 说，虽然美国许多州并没有直接禁止这种水回用，但全州范围内的规则可能会带来更快的采用。
 
There are no exact federal rules for direct potable reuse. However, reuse projects must meet federal health rules for drinking water.
直接饮用水再利用没有确切的联邦规则。但是，再利用项目必须符合联邦饮用水卫生规定。
 
Florida, California and Arizona are now working on rules for direct potable water reuse. And several other states are beginning the process or have existing projects. As the water level of the Colorado River continues to drop, Arizona faces deep water cuts, while pressure grows for California to give up more of its share.
佛罗里达州、加利福尼亚州和亚利桑那州目前正在制定直接饮用水再利用的规则。其他几个州正在开始这一进程或已有项目。随着科罗拉多河的水位继续下降，亚利桑那州面临着深度减水，而加利福尼亚州放弃更多份额的压力越来越大。
 
Denver and Colorado Springs — Colorado's most populous cities — already recycle most of their water through exchanges with other cities and for non-drinking uses, such as watering parks. Both cities expect to someday reuse water for drinking purposes, but officials are concerned their reusable supplies from the stressed Colorado River soon could face cuts.
丹佛和科罗拉多斯普林斯——科罗拉多州人口最多的城市——已经通过与其他城市的交换和非饮用用途（例如浇水公园）回收了大部分水。这两个城市都希望有一天能够将水重新用于饮用目的，但官员们担心他们来自压力大的科罗拉多河的可重复使用的供水很快就会面临削减。
 
Greg Fisher of Denver Water was concerned about the time it takes to build a large direct potable reuse system.
丹佛水务公司的 Greg Fisher 担心建造大型直接饮用水再利用系统所花费的时间。
 
"If you've built a big direct potable reuse system and you don't have it even for a few years, that causes some problems," he said.
“如果你已经建立了一个大型的直接饮用水再利用系统，而你甚至几年都没有它，那会导致一些问题，”他说。
 
"If we are relying on those reusable (drinking water) supplies to meet our customers' needs, our ability to meet their needs is put at risk," Fisher added.
“如果我们依靠那些可重复使用的（饮用水）供应品来满足客户的需求，我们满足他们需求的能力就会面临风险，”费舍尔补充道。
 
Creative uses of recycled water
循环水的创造性使用
 
Still, some people in Colorado are already making creative use of recycled water.
尽管如此，科罗拉多州的一些人已经在创造性地利用再生水。
 
When Eric Seufert brewed a test batch of beer in 2017 with water from recycled sewage, he was not too concerned about the outcome. The engineering company that contacted him about the test explained the process, and together they drank samples of recycled water. Seufert quickly understood the process was not too different from how water is normally treated.
当 Eric Seufert 在 2017 年用回收污水中的水酿造了一批测试啤酒时，他并不太担心结果。联系他进行测试的工程公司解释了这个过程，他们一起喝了循环水的样本。Seufert 很快意识到这个过程与通常的水处理方式并没有太大的不同。
 
"Every … river in this country has someone putting in their wastewater after they've treated it," he said.
“这个国家的每条……河流在处理完废水后，都会有人将其倒入废水中，”他说。
 
After opening the beer and having a taste, the owner of 105 West Brewing Co. in Castle Rock, Colorado now served it to others.
打开啤酒并品尝后，科罗拉多州城堡石市 105 West Brewing Co. 的老板现在将其提供给其他人。
 
Seufert already knows he can make good beer from recycled water. He is more worried about keeping the cost of business down.
Seufert 已经知道他可以用再生水酿造优质啤酒。他更担心降低业务成本。
 
"I'm concerned that the resources will be there for the planned growth in an affordable way for this region," Seufert said. "But, as of now, I trust that" state officials "are working on it."
Seufert 说：“我担心该地区的资源将以负担得起的方式用于计划中的增长。” “但是，到目前为止，我相信‘州政府官员’正在努力解决这个问题。”